Evertonvs.Liverpool

Slot's much-changed XI were humbled in the FA Cup at the weekend, losing 1-0 at Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round, with none of the fringe players staking a claim to keep their place in the side after a dismal display at Home Park.

Luis Diaz was the one player who kept his place from the 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur three days earlier, and even though he underwhelmed, he is set to retain his spot in the side.

For Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa though, they all squandered a huge opportunity to impress Slot, and will drop back down to the bench here to make way for the likes of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, who were all left at home over the weekend.

Salah and Gakpo will be the big threats for the Everton rearguard, and the Egyptian has a fine career record against the Toffees, scoring six goals in his last eight derby appearances.

The big injury worry for the visitors concerns Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was forced off against Bournemouth and has missed the two subsequent games.

Ahead of the trip to Plymouth, Slot did not sound overly optimistic that Alexander-Arnold will be fit in time to return for this one either, so that could see Conor Bradley start at right-back, especially after Joe Gomez's injury at the weekend.

Gomez had only recently returned from a near-two-month layoff, but within 10 minutes at Home Park, he pulled up and had to be replaced, with Slot saying it does not look too good for the Liverpool defender.

Despite desperately chasing an equaliser at the weekend, Curtis Jones, who was one of just two senior players on the Liverpool bench, was not brought on by Slot, suggesting there may have been a fitness problem with him too, just a week after returning from muscle injury.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Diaz, Gakpo

Written by

Andrew Delaney